EPA Moves to Expose “Inert” Ingredients

In a move decades overdue, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving toward the unveiling of so-called “inert” ingredients in pesticides.

Current laws require that manufacturers only reveal “active” ingredients on labels, such as glyphosate in Roundup or 2,4-D in selective weed killer. Often the active ingredient is only a small percentage of the overall product.

For decades, manufacturers have been allowed to keep the rest of their formulations secret, claiming that disclosure would divulge trade secrets and allow for open copying and competition. Often times, as we have discovered through the years, the inert ingredients have been far more lethal than the active ingredients.

Though the new rules are not expected to take effect for several months, the move was hailed by our friends at Beyond Pesticides: www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/